It is said that an individual – human or pokemon - licked by a Haunter will spend a variable period of time shaking while displaying bizarre changes in behavior, and then inevitably pass away. This is untrue, for a Haunter's tongue causes instant death. The misconception arises because it is only the mind which passes on. The body of the deceased remains animated, but it is the Haunter which controls it, and it shakes because no Haunter can perfectly control a body which is not its own.

A Haunter's body is not a weak one which is capable of little more than floating aimlessly. Yes, it can phase through walls, but it not only can turn invisible, it must also strain to remain visible. Movement is difficult to control, light painful, and they remember all too well their previous lives and strain for an escape. Some possess those who they had developed grudges against in life, and strive to ruin their reputation before death: others possess those they envied, hoping to live their lives even at the cost of killing those they looked up to. Many, however, possess random strangers, and most possess no one at all.

Few Haunter will stay in their new bodies for long. They will complete their grudges and turn to pitying those they made suffer in the process of defaming their enemies, or they will find those who they envied did not live lives as great as they imagined. They will grow frustrated with the limited control they have over their victims' bodies and miss the freedom afforded by their status as a ghost. In time they will leave, their victims will die, and the Haunter will either return to their own form with renewed appreciation or allow their spirit to pass on from the world.